In case you missed the last one, we will be holding another Basic Thermography Applications Training course on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in Sacramento. For more information, please visit http://www.moistureview.com/training.

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

1-Day Basic Thermography Applications

Basic Thermography ApplicationsTraining is an intense one day classroom workshop in the physics of infrared, the principles of thermodynamics and hands on training in the use of Fluke thermal imaging cameras for various applications.

Who should attend:

• Electrical contractors
• Facility managers
• Building inspectors
• Energy auditors
• Restoration / Remediation technicians
• Property managers
• Anyone interested in learning more about infrared technology

What will you learn:

• Physics of infrared
• Principles of thermodynamics
• Application to electrical / mechanical inspections
• Application to moisture investigations
• Application to building envelope investigations
• Hands on training in use of Fluke cameras
• Image analysis training
• Report software training (SmartView)

What else is included:

• Fluke 62 IR thermometer
  ($100.00 value)
• Completion certificate for 8 hour Basic Thermography Applications Training
• Notes for a variety of applications and inspection guidelines

For more information & registration, visit: http://www.restcon.com/index.php/training/training-schedule/details/11-basic-thermography-applications-training

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

May 14-17, 2012

Location:
Restoration Consultants, Inc.
3284 Ramos Circle
Sacramento, CA 95827

Cost: $1695

> Download the Flyer

SPACE IS LIMITED! PLEASE REGISTER AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE TO GUARANTEE A SEAT IN THE COURSE. TO REGISTER CONTACT:

Jessica Linares
408-342-1200
seminar@ewingfoley.com

*Sponsored by Ewing-Foley, Inc

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

Read about auto focus and video recording at: http://www.moistureview.com/products/tir125-tir110-building-diagnostic-and-the-ti100-general-use-thermal-imagers

Check it out!

How important is it to understand emissivity?  Well, how important is the accuracy of your temperature reading?  Your infrared camera, if it is a radiometric camera, gives you a surface temperature reading, right?   Let’s say your IR camera is in perfect calibration and the reading is minus 3° F.  Is that an accurate temperature?  Maybe!  Maybe not!  The target surface characteristic called “emissivity” has a major influence on it.   When you hear the word “emissivity”, what comes to mind?  The thing that comes to my mind is the word “emit”.  Target surfaces vary in the amount of infrared radiation that they “emit”.  The higher the emissivity of the surface, the more infrared radiation it emits.  The more it emits the more accurate the temperature reading from you camera.  Please notice that I have emphasized the word “surface”.  Why?  Because an infrared camera reads only the infrared radiation that is emitted from the “surface”.  For example, on a painted wall the camera reads the infrared radiation emitted from the last coat of paint, not anything below that.  Polished chrome, for example has a very, very low emissivity of 0.05 (high reflectivity).  Paint has a very, very high emissivity of 0.95 (low reflectivity).  What, then, is the emissivity of painted chrome?  It’s the same as the emissivity of “paint” because that is what constitutes the surface.  Notice the same image I used in blog #015, the image of the car with a chrome surround on the windshield.

Taken with Fluke IR Fusion camera

The ambient temperature is around 110° F.  The painted door panel is 144.1 ° F.  The polished chrome surface is reading -3° F.  The paint, due to the high emissivity of paint (.95), is giving us a relatively accurate temperature surface temperature of 144.1° F.  The polished chrome, with its very low emissivity  (.05), is giving us a very inaccurate temperature of minus 3° F. 

 A good question to ask yourself when pointing an infrared camera at a surface is: “What is the emissivity of this material?”  If you are involved in moisture investigations or building envelope investigations you are most often viewing high emissivity surfaces.  Be careful about aluminum HVAC surfaces, though.   If you are involved with industrial, manufacturing, mechanical investigations you will have to be more aware of the varying surface emissivities.  In the next blog I will address how you can change the emissivity of a surface to achieve accuracy.

 Call me any time for further discussions on these subjects.

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

Cool wall cavity areas (darker color) and warmer wood framing (lighter color):

Scenario #7 – viewed from the outside during the cooling season (summer) – are the bays insulated?

Scenario #8 – viewed from the inside during the cooling season (summer) – are the bays insulated?

exercise cool bay scenario

(Answers:)

Scenario #7 – no insulation

Scenario #8 – insulated

 The intent of these 8 scenarios in these four blogs (#060, #061, #062, #063) was to give you an opportunity to practice thinking on a molecular level.  Hopefully this has raised your thermography comfort level.

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

(Warm wall cavity areas (lighter color) and wood framing (darker color):

#5 scenario:  viewed from the outside during the cooling season (summer) – Are the bays insulated?

#6 scenario:  viewed from the inside during the cooling season (summer) – Are the bays insulated?

Exercise warm bay scenario

(Answers:)

Scenario #5 – insulated

Scenario #6 – no insulation

 Look for Scenario #7 and #8 in blog #063 on Nov 16.

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

Cool wall cavity areas (darker color) and warmer wood framing (lighter color):

Scenario #3 – viewed from the outside during the heating season (winter) – is the wall insulated?

Scenario #4 – viewed from the inside during the heating season (winter) – is the wall insulated?

Excercise cool bay scenario

(Answers)

Scenario #3 – Insulated

Scenario #4 – No insulation

 Look for Scenarios #5 and #6 in Blog #062 on Nov 9.

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html

If you go back and read Blog #004 (Jan 10, 2011) you’ll see a brief discussion on the recommended ∆T  ( outside surface to inside surface ∆T of the wall being inspected).  Sometimes the difference in ambient temperatures (inside to outside) is sufficient.  But the influence of the sun and wind can change the outside surface temperature dramatically from the ambient temperature.  For example, the outside ambient temperature could be 30°F and the outside wall surface could be 120°F due to solar heat.  So, it’s a good idea to be aware of what’s happening on the outside of the wall that you are inspecting.  The recommended ∆T (temperature differential surface to surface) is 18°F or greater.  This is perhaps due to the nature of the R-value of materials.  R-values can be expressed as the temperature difference needed to transfer 1 BTU/hr/ft².  For example, R-19 value would require a 19° F temperature difference to transfer 1 BTU/hr/ ft².   1 BTU is  not of lot of heat transfer, is it?  The effect on the target wall that you are looking at is very small.  I was looking at an uninsulated wall with a 73°F inside surface temperature and a 47°F outside surface temperature.  That is a 26°F ∆T, well above the 18°F minimum suggested.   The area on the wall where the wood framing is located read 74.3°F.  The bay read 73°F.  That is only a 1.3°F temperature difference.  That’s why it’s important to have a “sensitive” infrared camera for this type of work.   The lower the ∆T from outside surface to inside surface, the less thermal effect you’ll see on the wall you are inspecting.  As mentioned, some infrared cameras are more sensitive than others and will pick up more detail.  (Get the most sensitive camera you can afford) 

In this blog #060 and the following three blogs I want to give you some exercises containing a variety of scenarios so that you can practice identifying insulation issues.  If you think your way through these exercises you’ll raise “your Thermography comfort level”. 

(Warm wall cavity areas (lighter color) and wood framing (darker color):

#1 scenario:  viewed from the outside during the heating season (winter) – Are the bays insulated?

#2 scenario:  viewed from the inside during the heating season (winter) – Are the bays insulated?

excercise warm bay scenario

(Answers:)

Scenario #1 – no insulation

Scenario #2 – Insulated

Look for scenarios # 3 and #4 in blog #061 on Nov 2.

How’s your comfort level in thermography?
(The above comments represent my opinion).

Rod Hoff / Restoration Consultants Inc
Thermography Instructor / IR camera sales
3284 Ramos Circle, Sacramento CA 95827
toll free 888-617-3266 ext 301
fax 916-736-1134
rhoff@restcon.com

Provider of Fluke TiS, TiR, TiR1, Ti, Ti25, TiR27, Ti27, TiR29, Ti29, TiR32, Ti32, TiR3, and TiR4 infrared cameras.

See DEMO www.moistureview.com/demo.html